Moving staircase of the ascending and descending type



May 8, 1928.

v 1,668,644 E. HOCQUART ET AL I MOVING STAIRCASE OF THE ASCENDING AND DESCBNDING TYPE Filed May 22, 1925 a Sheets-Sheet 1 mar-i E. lloc a a um F "May s, 1928. 1,668,644

v E. HQCQUART ET AL IOVING STAIRCASE OF THE ASCENDING AND DESCENDING TYPE May 22, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 8, I928. 1,668,644

E. HOCQUART ET AL uovme STAIRCASE OF THE ASCENDING AND nnscsnnmo TYPE Filed llay 22, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I ziHocgu/a zfb Patented Mag; a, 1928.

UNITED STATES EDOUABD HOCQUART, O1 CLAN-ART, AND EMILE HUGONIOT, OF PARIS, FRANCE,

PATENT OFFICE.

BIGNOBS TO SOGIETE ANONYME DB AN CIENS ETABLISSEMENTS GBOSSELIN PERI ET FILE, OF PARIS; FRANCE.

MOVING STAIRCASE OF THE ASCENDING AND DESCENDING rm.

Application filed May 22, 1925, Serial No. 32,201, and hi France August 20,1924.

vehicles such as handcarts, bicycles, wheelbarrows, childrens carriages and the like. The said invention is hereinafter described in detail with reference to the appended dia- 5 grammatic drawings which show by way of example a constructional form of moving staircase of the ascending and descending type serving for the transportation. of per-"' 'sons, and a second constructional form of a moving staircase adapted for the transportation of small vehicles.

' \In the said drawings:

Fi 1 is a sectional view of a staircase for. t e transportation of persons, showing the means employed for proceeding from the ascent to the descent as well as the approaches to the said staircase.

Fig. 2 is a-sectional view of the said staircase showing the means for proceeding from the descent to the ascent, and the approaches to the staircase. I

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the movable step.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the entirearrangement. Y

Fi 5 is a side elevation of the departure plat orm togther with the ascending ele ment of a staircase for the transportation of small vehicles such as childrens carriages. Fi 6 is a side elevation of the departure plat orm together with the descending element of the staircase. 1

Fig. 7 shows the descending element corresponding'to Fig. 6, .with the arrival platform. v

In the said figures, and as concerns the moving staircase employed for thetranportationofpersons (Figs. 1 to 4) the movable step consists of a top 'plate-1 having the set of grooves 2and mounted on .the'two axles 3 and 4. The front axle, which' is nearest the. top of the staircase, carries'therollers 5, 5 and its journals 6 en age the two respective driving chains; t e rear axle 4 carries the rollers 7, .7 which are closer together than the rollers 5.

The step which is actuated by the two &

chains is loosely revoluble on the front axle and may assume any-desired position during the travel. the amount of rotation being determined by a suitable difference in height of the said staircase, as at 8-8 the rails are situated in the same horizontal plane, but in't he' parts adjacent the upper and lower level portions, the rollers 5 travel on the rails 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and the rollers 7 on the rails'14, '15, 16, 17, 18. i

The said chains are actuated by the driving shaft 19. 'A suitable number of supporting shafts 20, 21, 22 provided with chain wheels are disposed at the point at which the chain changes its direction. The return shaft 23 is mounted on a sliding device, and the wearof the chain is taken u by a stretcher. The direction of travel-o the steps is shown by the arrows 24 and 25.

The approaches to the moviiig staircase comprises the following elements. At the lower part we provide a departure platform 26 for the ascending portion of the staircase,

and an arrival platform 27 for the descending portion which ends 'in a comb-shaped member 28 and is provided with the; lateral exit door 29. At the upper part, we provide an arrival platform 30 for the ascending .portion of the staircase which ends in the comb-shaped member, 31, and a departure platform 32 for the descending ortion of the staircase, access being afior ed by the lateral door 33. The teeth of the said combshaped members engage in the grooves2 in the platforms of the ste s. The platforms 26 and- 27 are disposed as i I T e entrance and exitof persons using the said staircase are facilitated'bg1 the relative disposition which-is given to t e'ftop plates of the several steps at the point adjacent the arrival and departure platforms, this result ,being obtained by the use of a suitable shape for the roller rails.

When adjacent the de arturc ends 26 and 32, the top plate of eac step is horizontal and is somewhat displaced in height relatively to the tops of the adjacent steps, so that the passengers will clearly-observe the line of separation between-the consecutive steps. The top line of each step comes as close as possible to the pointed edge of the departure platforms. At a short distance from this edge, the vertical displacement of the steps is gradually increased, up to the normal value.

When adjacent the arrival platforms 27 and 30, the tops of the consecutive steps will in the first place come gradually nearer to--.

' gether, and then mume the inclined position and in line with each other; the resulting inclined plane'then comes quite close to the said comb-shaped member whose teeth .step and will place it upon the rail 16.

engage in the grooves in the top-plates of a the-steps and thus prevent the formation of a continuous empty space along the width I of the staircase.

As concerns the direction of travel of the portions of the staircase, it should be noted' that in the ascending part, the front axle precedes the rear axle, but infthe descending part the rearaxle precedes the front axle, so that 'when a given step has disappeared elow, flo ql ll2finorfl3llit must be given a I particular movement whge'by it will assume the proper sitionwhen issuing from the departure plztforms 2 6 and '32.

At the lower 'art', at which the rear axle is to be set .bac we obtain this result by simply curving the rail-34, as shown in Fig. 2. At the upper part, a suitable mechanism is necessary in orderto increase the speed i of the rear axle and to place .it forwardly of the front axle (Fig. 1), and we obtain this movement by the use of -achain having links of special-shape, which is disposed. between the two chain wheels 36, one of the said wheels being actuated by the driving shaft 19 at, a suitable speed and in the pro r direction. The curved parts of the sai chain willseize the roller 7 of each by employing an increased slope for the descen ing e ement, or 'by the combined use of these two means; it will be essential to design the profile of the steps in consequence, in order to obviate all space between the front part 0 one step and the rear of the next.

prejudicial Referring to the construction of a nioving staircase which is adapted for use with smalLvehicles (Fig. -5 to 7 v we modify the abpvp ilpentioned apparatus chiefly:

a width hicles. v v A (b) by giving to the top lates of the steps a slight rearward inc ination, and when adjacent the arrival combs, we in cline them towards the latter;

or the transportation of such ve- (a) by giving a slight inclination to the arrival combs and to the departure platforms;

((1) by giving a suitable spacing inhei ht" to the steps adjacent the departure p tforms whereby the said vehicles will have a ready access to the steps and will have a 'the use of steps having the propersteady position upon the latter during the travel,-andwill also be enabled to descend with facility upon the arrival platforms.

In Figs. 5 to 7, the horizontal plane is shown by suitable lines, and time arrows 24 and 25 indicate the directionof travel of the staircase. 8, 10,. 11 and 12 are the guide rails for the rollers 5; and 8, 16,17, 18 the like rails for the rollers 7 of the steps whereof the top plate 1 has a sufiicient size to accommodate one of the said. vehicles.

.The rails and steps are so dis osed that the surface ofthe top plate shal be somewhat inclined towards the thinner front part of thestep 1, so that when the apparams is in motion the vehicle will always tend to bear'upon the rear part 1' of the adjacent step. The departure platform 26 for the ascending element of the staircase (Fig. 5) is somewhat inclined at 41 and comprises a sharp edge 42 at the front which comes close to the forward .end 1 of the steps, so that, when the vehicle 43 is pushed upon the first step it will-continue to descend u n the slopingof the top plate and will at against therear end-1 of the forwardly situated step; the latterwill in fact form atthis time a small raised portion which soon after increases-and attains the normal "height of the step, and then diminishes bethe comb of the arrival platfore attaini form which is slightly inclined towards the exit end. I

As rds the departure platform 82, for the ascending element of the daircaee '(Fig. 6) it is also by an inclined plane 44, so that the vphicle can demand this mcline and take its. but since the top plate of the ste isinclined in the contrary direction, the v icle will at position upon the step,

eeann once return to the rear and will abut against the next step 1' and will thus remain in place during the whole riod of travel.

As concerns the arriva latform for the descending element (Fig. 7?, this comprises a plane 45 which ends in the comb 46 and descends on a slight slope towards the exit;

' the teeth of the said comb are engaged-in the grooves in the top plate of the step. 'Herein the last steps, upon approaching the arrival platform 27 will be inversel inclined, i. e.

. towards the exit, so that be ore the end of the course, the vehicle 43 will descend by its own meansfrom one step to the other by reason of this inverse inclination of the steps, and thence upon the comb 46, and finally upon the platform 27, whereby the transfer from the moving staircase to the permanent platform will be much facilitated.

It will be thus observed that in virtue of themodificationsmade in the moving stairease whereby the steps have a larger size and a certain inclination and whereby the combsha ed members of the departure and thearrival platforms shall be suitably inclined, we facilitate the engagement and the transportation of the small vehicles upon the said staircase as well as their transfer to the arrival platforms.

said last mentioned means including a mov- What we claim is: y

1. In a mechanical staircase, an endless carrier including steps, uide means for the carrier providing ascen ing and descending portions, and means for altering the posi tions of the steps in the carrier during travel of the latter over the guide means,

able chain. 2. A mechanical staircase as claimed in claim 1 characterized by the revision of means for imparting movement mm the carrier to thechain,

3. In a mechanical staircase, an endless car-"- rier including a plurality of steps each p'rovided with pairs of supporting rollers, guide.

means for t e rollers oi the steps, and means for altering the position of the steps in the carrier duringtravel of the latter over the guide means, said last mentioned means including a. movable chain.

4. A mechanical staircase as claimed in claim 3 characterized by the provision of means for transmitting movement of the car- A ricr to the chain. a

f5. A mechanical staircase as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that said chain is provided with recesses arranged and g'uidecertain of the rollers of the steps.

6. A mechanical staircase as claimed in claim 3'characterized in-that at one point in its length, said guide means is interrupted and'the chain is located at the point of in terrution.

7. In a mechanical staircase, an endless carrier including steps, each provided with sets of supportingrollers, guide rails for the respective sets of rollers, certain of the guide rails being interrupted, and means for altering the position of the steps in'the carrier during travel of the latter over the guide rails, the last mentioned means including a chain place'dat the point of interruption of the guide rail. I 3

8. A mechanical staircase vas claimed in claim 7 characterized by the provision of recesses in the chain adapted to receive certain of the sets of rollers.

"9. A mechanical staircase as claimed in claim 7 characterized by the provision of recesses in the chain adapted to receive cert-ain of the sets of rollers, and means for transmitting movement of the carrier'to the chain.

In testimony whereof we aflix our sig:

natures,

EDOUARD HOGQUART.

EMILE HUGONIOT.

to receive 

